


the unholy

by bambamboo



Category: GOT7
Genre: Documentaries, Fear, Gen, Ghosts, Horror, Mystery, Walks In The Woods
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:34:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25125511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bambamboo/pseuds/bambamboo
Summary: a summer film projecta group of boysa ghost of a murdered bride-to-beand 9 long, long days
Relationships: Park Jinyoung/Jackson Wang
Comments: 3
Kudos: 6





	1. THE UNHOLY

**_1978_ **

_the house spilled with blood, dripping, sinking, drowning in it. grass ran red with it, the trees surrounding the house stained by the splatter. yet no-one was there to see._

_and no-one was there to hear the screams. the middle of the woods were safe like that, safe for the man wielding a knife, not for the women sobbing beneath hi_ _m._

_a wild hen party dare._  
_"let's go into the woods, it'll be a laugh,"_

_there was no laughter._  
_but sobs, sobs and cries and screams... they were in abundance._

_the man held the knife close to his chest, like it was his child, as he smiled widely down at his victims- happiness eminated from him as they whimpered at his feet, it was the first time he had felt powerful in a long time. it had been much too long. but their tears were hot on their faces, the cuts littering their bodies creating a river of blood, and he was starting to get impatient._

_the night was still young. he was sure there were others in the woods that night._  
_or perhaps there wouldn't be._

_either way the girls were annoying him, with their desperate pleas and shaking hands. his own fingers shook with the need to slash their bodies._  
_he pulled the girl with the purple sash closer to him and he smiled and he cut and he ripped at her hair and at her skin._

_screams._  
_from her, her thigh coated in blood._  
_from her friends, watching her flop to the floor- dead_

_and a laugh._  
_from him, as his first victim became weak in his hands, god he loved the power._

_carefully, he reached over to his kitchen table and picked up two palm leaves, expertly twisting them together. a cross. his eyes reached to the sky as he placed the palm cross on the woman's dead body. the bride-to-be._

_immediately, it became soaked in her scarlett blood and he scowled , swinging his eyes to the 3 other girls._

_"sacrifices must be made." he whispered, leaning down to trace his knife across a blonde girl's neck, chuckling as she recoiled. the power he had over these girls was addictive, he wanted this to go on forever, and ever, and ever and..._

_in a swift move he cut her neck, even more blood flooding to the wooden floorboards of the house, soaking them through. a gutteral roar. 2 quick slashes. 4 dead bodies._

_and too much blood, far too much blood, all over his house. in the floor, splattered across the wall. his face too, was wet with blood and the mangled bodies just wouldn't stop bleeding._

_as he brought the knife up to his own neck, he couldn't help a laugh passing his lips. oh, how the adrenaline coarsed through his veins, how it made his hands shake and his heart pound. looking at the bodies only made him laugh harder, and harder and harder and-_

_one final slash and he was brought to his knees._  
_one final laugh to the heavens as he choked out, "forgive me.... f-fath-"_

_\-----_

"why do you think he did it?" jaebeom held his camera steadily as jinyoung addressed the woman stood in frame. the piece of equipment was heavy in his hands, and he shifted uncomfortably, trying to even out his weight as an ache spread through his left shoulder. jinyoung was staring at the woman intently, portable microphone in one hand and notpad full of scrawled notes and rushed mindmaps in the other. his hair was whipped up by the wind as he posed the question, his tone light but the words holding a certain weight that made the woman shiver slightly.

she pulled the light, knitted cardigan she was wearing tighter around her shoulders as he spoke, "i heard his wife had cheated on him, and in a fit of rage he attacked the first woman he saw. he was religious you know? a good man. the whole town went crazy when they found his body, myself included."

the story still rung in all 3 of the film students' heads, the story of a man who had stabbed four women in his house in the woods, of a man who then killed himself too. when yugyeom had first posed the idea of doing their summer documentary project on the legend of "the unholy", jaebeom had scoffed in his face. but upon hearing the story from this haggard, painfully frightened woman, he just knew their documentary would be enough to make heads turn.

what with mark's editing, jaebeom's kick-ass directing and jinyoung's narration, they were sure to make the story of the woman with the blood stained purple sash truly captivating. jaebeom couldn't help goosebumps popping up onto his skin as he remembered they too would be entering the very woods she "haunted" soon. if he hadn't been so proud, he would've admitted he was scared to spend 3 full days in the deepest, darkest depths of the trees. but he was too proud, and so he told himself it was just the biting wind causing his skin to prickle.

jinyoung continued the interview whilst jaebeom tried to keep his hand holding the camera still, the task being hard what with the aforementioned wind, "so who exactly is the unholy?"

her eyes suddenly grew wild, "o-oh i... i won't be saying anymore." jaebeom guessed she knew exactly what the unholy was, and yugyeom sighed from where he was stood just behind the camera. his arms were folded tightly against the wind.

"she's the first woman the religious man killed, correct? and she haunts the woods?"

yugyeom had always been impatient, and held little empathy. jaebeom rolled his eyes as the younger pushed the woman towards saying something they could use for the documentary. she obviously looked concerned, her gaze darting from boy to boy as all 3 waited for her answer. eventually, she grimaced and looked directly into jaebeom's eyes. at once, his skin rippled with painful shivers, there was something about the way her eyes glistened with fear and a sort of abrupt anger that made his heart flash with the feeling that what they were doing was an awful idea.

"if you boys have even a shred of sanity, you won't go looking in those woods."

and then she turned, and she walked away. briefly, she looked back to see them watching her leave and shook her head pitifully. the students didn't hear her, partially due to the wind but mostly due to her low, growl of a voice as she whispered, "shame..."

she picked up her pace, "so young, so innocent."

"UGH," yugyeom sighed dramatically, watching her hunched back as she walked away, "useless, utterly and completely useless!"

jaebeom worked on manipulating his camera to fit into it's small, travel bag as he laughed at yugyeom's annoyance, "hey, we got the backstory, she was helpful man."

"whatever, but we still have no fucking clue who this dumb spirit is- stupid secretive town, literally no-one wants to say anything." he walked over to help jaebeom with the camera, sounding angry but he wasn't really- more frustrated they'd spent so much time in the quiet, creepy town for seemingly, no reason.

the whole place gave him weird vibes: the old men who'd just stare as you walked past their porches, the children who would come to a standstill when you came remotely close. everyone had dead eyes, everyone refused to even say the name "the unholy" on camera.

and that woman's warning. don't go in the woods? was she being serious? it gave jaebeom the creeps, had made his hairs stand on end before he convinced himself she was just a bit insane. still, her words rung in his ears, making him apprehensive, were they really going to go hunting for a murderous spirit? all for a summer project?

jaebeom looked to yugyeom with a raised eyebrow, "look, we have plenty of footage, let's just go back to the motel ok? get some rest before we hike tomorrow."

"yeah yeah, i just wish we could've had some more footage of this fucking town man. so creepy."

jinyoung laughed, starting to walk down the pavement towards the small, dirty motel they had rented out for the night, "shhhhhh," he joked, "what if they hear you?"

"let them." jaebeom chuckled, still concerned by the woman's warning but too much of a coward to bring it up with his friends, he knew yugyeom would only make fun of him, "yugyeom probably deserves whatever they'll do to him."

"gee thank you jaebeom... remind me who came up with the idea for this documentary? you should be kneeling before me for this brilliant idea. i should be your motherfucking king right now."

jinyoung hit him lightly on the back of the head, running away after he did so, laughing brightly in the wind, "shut up about your stupid idea.... good job though, my brilliant, brilliant king."

if only they had known. if only yugyeom had known when he pitched the idea for the documentary to his assigned team 3 weeks ago, if only jinyoung had known when he agreed at once, sure they could win the summer competiton, if only jaebeom hadn't agreed to fund the project. if only, if only, if only...

but now, they were talking and joking as they hurried down the pavement, now their hearts were light and free from fear and pain and grief. their innocence hung over them, warming them like a blanket in the middle of the arctic. they didn't notice the glares of the residents of the town as they walked to the motel. and of course, they had no idea that the woman, the very woman they had ended their interviews with, had gone home to pull out a thick, velvet bound book. blood was spattered across the cover, which was inscribed with the words _dr gabriel winter_ _s. she_ shook her head as she opened the book, flipping through revealing pages and pages of curving writing.

pulling out a pot of what looked like red ink, but could've been something much more sinister, she began writing on a clean page.

_three boys interviewed me about gabriel today. i'm sure there are four others in our town too. i'm unsure how the authorities will react to seven more deaths, but i will try my hardest, for gabriel, to keep this hidden in the town. i'm confident, i've done it hundreds of times. it's a shame though, they couldn't have even been 21. we shall see gabe, we shall see._

as she wrote these words down in red, jinyoung, jaebeom and yugyeom returned to their motel. excited. happy. smiling. these emotions, though they didn't know it at the time, were beginning to become limited. they entered the room they had rented, housing 4 bunk beds and a small bathroom with light smiles and heavy eyelids. the other four members of the team were already lazing in their beds, stuffing their faces with nuts, occasionally tossing them into the air to catch them in their mouths. with the exception of mark, who was passed out on the top bunk of the bed furthest from the door, which made sense. he wasn't exactly friends with any of them.

"hey lads." bambam said tiredly when they entered the room, "we got a grand total of 0 people to talk to us."

youngjae hiccuped, smiling widely, "so we came here and drank the vodka!"

as jaebeom rolled his eyes and threw his camera onto a random bed, claiming it as his own, jackson tossed him a pack of cigarettes. managing to catch them somewhat gracefully, jaebeom pulled one out and lit it up, basking in the gentle calmness that flooded through him as he puffed on it.

"how much of it did you drink?" he asked lazily, taking another drag of the cigarette and blowing the smoke through his nose. it hurt slightly.

jackson shrugged, "about half i dunno man... seriously though, did you get any good interviews at all?"

"yeah, this one crazy lady spoke to us, all scary and shit? it'll be good for the documentary but i'm pretty spooked." jinyoung answered honestly, sitting next to jackson on one of the beds and resting his head on the older's shoulder. he looked pretty tired, a bad sign for the next day, jaebeom thought- they couldn't be tired with 15 hours of walking to do. jaebeom was distracted from his thoughts when yugyeom, as always, began taunting jinyoung.

"oooh is jinyoungie scared???? wimp!"

"shut your fucking face yugyeom. she was scary, you're scared don't even lie."

bambam shook his head, smirking, "yugyeom's a massive freak though, all this scary shit is probably turning him on."

yugyeom shrugged jokingly, "what can i say? horror gives me a hard on"

"gross man!" jackson added his loud voice to the mix as jaebeom pulled on his cigarette again. sure, he liked his team, but they were annoying as hell sometimes and he knew they should really be getting some sleep for the day ahead.

bambam, yugyeom and jackson continued shouting and messing around for a short while. in the meantime, jaebeom set about packing up all their equipment so that the weight was equally distributed across all 7 of their backpacks. he made sure to put his map of the forest in the back pocket of the jeans he would be wearing and gently placed his earring on the small desk in the room. it was a cross, considerably large and uncomfortable to keep on during the night. he yawned, hearing the conversation about the creepy town die down as the rest of the team grew more tired.

jinyoung and youngjae had long since passed out, jinyoung's head still resting on jackson, and youngjae's hanging off the side of his bed. jaebeom chuckled slightly, getting into his own bed.

"okay guys, go to sleep PLEASE."

sometimes he really did feel like an overworked dad when they were working on film projects for class, mark was the only one who would ever actually listen to him. as he heard the three who were still awake groan and whine, he swore they were acting exactly as kids would do.

"busy day tomorrow." he continued, yawning again, "let's do a good job, okay?"

"yeah yeah." bambam mumbled, "is anyone else scared to go in the woods tomorrow?"

"oh don't be such a drip."

"no i'm serious gyeom- there's like... bears and stuff. or what if we get murdered?"

jaebeom groaned loudly as yugyeom tried to respond, "i promise i won't let you get mudered ok bambam? now please, PLEASE for the love of god, go to sleep."

bambam would hold onto those words jaebeom had spoken during their days in the woods, convincing himself that as long as jaebeom was there, everything would be fine. but of course, jaebeom would have no idea that he couldn't have kept it- even if he tried his very best, there were other powers at play, other powers that wouldn't rest until 7 bodies were scattered in the woods.


	2. DAY1

the next day started with the smell of cigarettes and instant coffee. when jaebeom pulled his tired eyes open, he clocked jinyoung and jackson leaning out of the window, allowing a morning breeze to gently wash through the room. jackson had a cigarette dangling between his lips and jinyoung grasped a cup of coffee tightly, warming his palms. jaebeom shook his head and smiled, watching as jackson wrapped an arm around jinyoung and pulled him closer. they were cute, jaebeom could give them that. with a drowsy yawn, jaebeom dragged himself out of bed, mind too cluttered and bleary for him to do much more than stand beside his bed, eyes droopy.

bambam however, was quick to spring from bed and shout, "EW OMG GET A ROOM! I JUST WOKE UP HERE" when he noticed jinyoung with his arm wrapped around jackson's shoulder.

the couple quickly pulled apart, the cigarette dropping from jackson's mouth and onto the pavement below their window, "fuck you bambam." he grunted, reaching for another from his pack that was almost half empty.

"toss me one." jaebeom grunted, and jackson chucked him the box and a lighter. the light hazy feeling from the cigarette washed away jaebeom's tiredness and he set about gathering his things for the long hike ahead of them. the plan was to treck right into the depths of the forest, in hope of locating the spot where "the unholy" had been murdered. there, jinyoung would narrate the story of "the unholy", how she was murdered on her hen night by a religious man along with three of her friends. it would serve as a gripping start to their hour long documentary, and jaebeom's head was brimming with ideas for his directing of the scene.

after bambam's outburst, the rest of the group quickly came to their senses- hair sticking up all over the place, clothes rumpled, breath pungent. jaebeom tried to hurry them as much as possible, his earring back in his ear, the jeans with the map in the pocket clutching his thighs, but apparently none of them were morning people (besides bambam of course). it had taken them almost a full hour to get dressed and washed and packed for their 3 day hike into the woods and by the time they left the motel, jaebeom was already at his wit's end - snappy and bossy.

by 9am, they were packed and ready to go. heavy rucksacks rested on their backs, stocked with food supplies and water, as well as equpiment they'd need for shooting the documentary. they wandered along the side of a twisting country lane, jaebeom's eyes scouring the map as he tried to figure out how to find the entrance to the forest.

jinyoung and jackson trailed behind the rest of the group, sweaty hands clasped tightly together as the others wittered on in front of them, bambam whining, "why'd no one tell me how heavy this backpack would be? my shoulders huuuuurt!"

mark groaned loudly, "just suck it up." he then turned to jaebeom, "jaebeom, do you have any idea where we're going?!"

"yes." jaebeom said, "well.. i think so, if we just turn up here, then we should be able to follow a path. and from there--"

"--- just give me the map."

without much hesitation, jaebeom handed mark the map. though it felt weird to let go of the map, (he felt out of control without the flimsy paper in his hands), he was more than happy to give it away. in truth, he had absolutely no idea how to read it, and was pretty sure he had been leading them down a dead end.

from beside him, mark let out a grunt of annoyance, "for fucks sake, it was upside down. let's go, its this way." he pointed to a small bypass that jaebeom never would've noticed and began walking towards it. jaebeom followed, sheepishly, more than a little embarrassed that he'd had the map upside down, especially as mark always seemed so judgemental of him.

after maybe 10 minutes of walking down gravelled paths in stony silence (save for jinyoung and jackson's occasional whispers of reassurance to each other), they reached a huge wall of trees, and small curving pathway that would lead them into the woods.

the whole place was pretty nondescript, just decorated with a sign post with a faded, yellow arrow, indictating a woodland track. but for some reason, jaebeom's spine began to tingle. he would've liked to think it was because of the chill in the morning air, but he knew better, he knew that just as bambam had said last night: he was scared to go into the woods. it wasn't that he was scared of getting mauled by a bear, or stabbed in his sleep as bambam was. moreso, he was scared of the crazy woman's words from the day before. they had left a sour taste in his mouth. her warning had sounded so sincere, like she truly was warding them away from death, from the very woods they were about to step into.

as much as jaebeom tried to dismiss her, he couldn't quite escape the feeling that going into the very woods where (it was rumoured that) at least 20 people had disappeared, was an awful idea. sure, he could tell himself he didn't believe in "the unholy". sure, he could remember the wild look in the woman's eyes, how she looked as far from sane as a human could possibly be. yet her words still shook him to his core.

still, he put on a brave face for the others watching, knowing they would only taunt him if he disclosed the nerves he was feeling. when he looked back to them, he saw just how terrified bambam looked- he was clinging to yugyeom like the younger was his lifeline, the only thing saving him from the horrors of _the woods._ jinyoung and jackson, too, seemed to be holding each other's hands tighter than before, cheeks tainted a light red. everyone was nervous. everyone knew what the woman had said.

it was funny, how they had all stopped. every one of them. even mark. though it wasn't surprising, jaebeom swore the woods practically looked evil- but once again he convinced himself it was merely his own mind trying to frighten him. it happened frequently enough. after watching a horror movie, he'd always be paranoid for days.

"who wants to go first?" jackson asked, voice lighter than jaebeom had been anticipaitng. perhaps the others weren't as frightened as him afterall.

"we're definitely doing this?" bambam said in return, "we're really gonna spend 3 full days in the woods... a-alone?"

"oh just come on bambam it's just some fucking trees." jaebeom scoffed.

as was said, he was at his wits end. they did have a schedule afterall, and maybe he was trying to reassure himself as well. it was only trees. it was only trees and they had a schedule.

15 hours to make it to the location where the girls were believed to have been murdered. that thought didn't really help. it got his mind thinking about a blog he had read (a very excited yugyeom had sent it to him in the middle of the night). the blog detailed how the house they'd been murdered in had been so flooded with blood that the whole area stunk of murder, and mentioned how a strange memorial had been built by persons unknown in the exact location where the bride's dead body had been found. legend stated that if you saw the shrine, you wouldn't leave the woods alive. now he was thinking about that, jaebeom swore the woods looked darker.

as jaebeom withdrew from his thoughts, he noticed how only bambam stood beside him now. the others had entered the woods, and were standing beneath the first row of trees. mark had his arms folded and was glaring at jaebeom.

"i'm too scared." bambam whispered, eyes flicking to yugyeom's in desperation.

it was then that in one swift movement, jaebeom entered the woods. bambam's fearful whispers had spurred him on, and maybe mark's obvious disdain had helped too. regardless, jaebeom now stood beside youngjae. bambam remained stagnant, and jaebeom swore he could see the boy shivering.

"bambam, would you just come? we're losing time." jaebeom checked his watch agitatedly, they were already an hour and half behind schedule, and bambam was only making them even more late. at that rate, they'd never be out of the woods in time to return the equipment they had borrowed. and now jaebeom had gotten over his own fears, he was growing a bit frustrated at how cowardly bambam was acting.

"hey." yugyeom spoke up from beside him, sounding almost angry, "don't speak to him like that- he's scared, man."

"y-yeah.. i.. don't think i can come..." bambam said, "i just... we're gonna be alone.. and we have no idea what's out there.."

"oh my fucking god! it's just the woods!" without much hesitation, mark reached over and grabbed bambam's arm, dragging him along until they were both completely surrounded by trees, "there. was that so hard?"

bambam nodded, tears mingling with the fear hidden in his eyes. there was a red mark across his wrist, and he rubbed it gently.

"what the FUCK man?!" this from yugyeom, who had always been weirdly protective of bambam.

"look, we're all in the woods now- let's just fucking go."

"alright, fine." the glimmer in yugyeom's eyes seemed to hold a stark contrast against the words, he looked as though he wanted to throw a punch into mark's gut, not follow him into the woods. but at least he had the common sense and decency to know that a fight at the start of a 3 day hike probably wasn't the best idea. this didn't stop him from following up with the words, "but you're pissing me off mark."

mark glared him down, and it truly felt normal to the pair. ever since class had started in september, the two had become avid rivals, batman and the joker. they'd attack each other's films and work with such passion that their hatred had become expected, and almost morphed into a friendship. it was no surprise that their teacher had put them in a team for the summer competition and all competitions prior, if they had been separated, class would've surely erupted into flames from their harsh criticisms and arguments. it wasn't that they hated _each other,_ they'd just become enemies one day and never got around to stopping.

it lead to a lot of clashes, so jaebeom didn't think too much of this one, choosing to ignore them both, but noticing how every few seconds they'd glare at each other.

"hey wait!!!" youngjae said, as jaebeom started to walk along the small, winding path, "are we really gonna start this hike without doing our tradition?!"

jinyoung smirked, "you're really gonna make us do that shit again?"

"of courseeeeee." youngjae replied, "now stop walking and get in a circle."

this was met by a series of groans, mostly from jaebeom and mark who were eager to just get on with the hike. still, both joined the circle, just as they did before the filming of every documentary they had done together.

"who's turn is it to do the ceremony?" bambam asked, voice still shaking. jaebeom noticed how he scanned the darkness between the thick tree trunks with uneasy eyes.

"MINEEEE!!" jackson responded, unlinking his arm from jinyoung's and grinning widely. jaebeom shook his head as jackson began 'the ceremony'

"to the documentary and film school gods," he said with his hands clasped together, "please bless our trip into the woods, and let us win the summer competition so we can get A pluses in our final grades thank you, amen."

"AMEN!" everyone else said in sync.

jaebeom then quickly said, "now let's get moving!" he rubbed his fingers along the edge of his cross earring, a nervous habit he had picked up, "we're gonna run out of time."

"chill out jaebeom." jinyoung laughed, but began making his way along the twisting path regardless. jackson walked along beside him, and their fingers very quickly found each other, interlocking at once to swing by their sides. the couple looked cute, walking a few paces ahead of everyone else, laughing to each other and glancing around at the towering trees.

the trees really were beautiful, the bark had a woody red tint to it, and the leaves were a deep, perfect looking green colour. it certainly was a pretty place to spend 3 days. the further they walked, the more jaebeom started to feel at ease. birds were twittering happily in the trees, and occasionally he could hear the sounds of wildlife scuttling through the undergrowth. it was so peaceful.

bambam and yugyeom walked beside him, though he didn't pay much attention to their conversation as it mostly consisted of yugyeom assuring bambam again and again that they were not going to die in the woods and everything would be fine. jaebeom preferred enjoying the woods in peace, without having to worry about bambam's fears- though occasionally he would add a, "don't worry bambam," or, "we're going to be fine." every so often.

it was especially good that mark was reading the map, and giving the directions. with youngjae beside him, he seemed to have cooled off from his almost-fight with yugyeom and was now humming along to a song youngjae was singing as he glanced at the map to check they were heading in the right direction.

miles and miles of forest came and went, and then it was lunchtime. youngjae handed out the chicken sandwiches he had in his pack with a smile as they found a couple of logs to perch on.

"i'm sooooooo tired." yugyeom groaned, taking a big bite of his sandwich, "and my knees hurt."

"don't talk with your mouth full." jaebeom replied, "and quit complaining- i made all our backpacks have more or less the same weight."

"sounds like communism to me." jinyoung joked.

"yeah, i'm only here to slap the clapperboard and make sure the sound is clear!! why the hell do i have to carry yugyeom's camera?!" jackson gestured to his backpack, which contained their heaviest piece of equipment.

mark rolled his eyes from where he sat next to youngjae on the soggy floor, "i'm the editor. with your logic, i should be carrying nothing."

distracted by the conversation, it took jaebeom a few seconds to notice the pain that suddenly shot to his ear lobe.

"OW!!!" he shouted when he felt the throb ache through his ear.

"what the fuck?" jinyoung asked, spotting red liquid dripping down the side of jaebeom's head.

"YOU'RE BLEEDING!!!! OH GOD IS IT BEARS?"

"seriously bambam? can you see a bear?! no!" yugyeom sounded incredulous.

"OWWWWWWWWW." jaebeom continued, shooting a hand up to his ear, feeling the slippery blood that was flooding from what felt like a hole in his ear, "fuck, shit that hurts."

"what happened?" youngjae asked and jaebeom shrugged.

he felt around a little, almost gagging when he ran his fingers across the hole that tore across his whole lobe, "i-i think... i think my.. earring... is gone? did it rip my earlobe????"

mark looked largely unbothered as he spoke up, "look for it then, it must be on the floor."

"i-i can't see it... i didn't even think it was heavy enough to rip my lobe.."

"does anyone have a tissue for the blood??" jackson asked. bambam held one up, it was crumpled.

"i do, but i already blew my nose in it."

as they spoke, and jackson incredulously told bambam they couldn't use a used tissue, jaebeom's eyes scanned the floor for his earring. it meant a lot to him, his mother had given it to him when he started film school; the cross was supposed to protect him and give him good luck and he felt kind of naked without it. it was his lucky charm. but he couldn't find it, even when he overturned some of the soggy leaves and bark that were settled on the ground.

his ear still hurt, but it wasn't too bad. eventually, mark gave jackson his pack of tissues and jaebeom cleaned up the wound with a couple of them. it looked like the blood had dried up rather quickly, though he was still confused on how his lobe had torn in the first place. the cross _definitely_ wasn't heavy enough.

"hey, can anyone see the earring?" jaebeom asked, and the others came over and scoured the ground with him. no-one found anything.

though as jaebeom sat down on a log in frustration, bambam called from a few metres away, "guys! look at this..."

jaebeom ran over quickly, thinking bambam had found his earring, but was disappointed to see that bambam was pointing at a tree. it was the tree jaebeom had been leaning against when they were eating their lunch only 10 minutes ago. bambam's finger shook, as jaebeom realised what he was pointing at. the tree bore what looked like a huge red graffiti. on closer inspection, jaebeom realised it was an upside down cross.

creepy. he was positive he hadn't seen that when they'd arrived.

jinyoung sighed from behind him, "god, i hate it when people ruin nature like this.. it's such a shame."

jackson chuckled from where he stood just next to jinyoung, "what are you? a middle aged dad?"

that earned him a light shoulder push from jinyoung, it was enough to cause him to lose his balance for a second.

"that's creepy guys..." bambam whispered. jaebeom agreed, but there was no way in hell he'd say it aloud.

right on cue, yugyeom was there to reassure bambam, "it's just graffiti bam."

confused, jaebeom tried to picture the tree when he had been leaning against it, and he was absolutely certain that there hadn't been a bright red upside down cross on it. he was positive. that thought made him shiver a little. had someone painted it when they had been distracted trying to find jaebeom's missing earring. surely not, they would've heard someone rattling a can of spray paint.

strange. but jaebeom didn't think too much of it, chalking it up to him being bad at noticing things. he walked over to his backpack, and shrugged it onto his shoulders, gesturing for the others to do the same.

"can someone else take mine?" jackson groaned, "yugyeom's camera is seriously killing me."

"you can have mine if you want, but it has the heavy mic in it," youngjae offered and jackson nodded quickly. they exchanged backpacks, and started walking off together. they were following mark, who had apparently already began walking again, and was striding off with the map clutched tightly in his hands. jaebeom sighed, mark really was an enigma. most of the time, he refused to talk to anyone but youngjae. but when he did talk to anyone else, he was always cold.

they'd done 5 projects together, surely he'd consider the other members friends? besides yugyeom of course, jaebeom knew they hated each other.

it didn't bother him that much though, and he found himself stepping in line with jinyoung.

"jackson ditched me." jinyoung said, though he sounded amused as he watched his boyfriend and youngjae chatting animatedly.

jaebeom laughed, "you gotta let him be the extrovert he is."

"yeah i guess."

5 hours of walking passed quickly, jinyoung was good company. they had named a country for every letter of the alphabet, played 'i spy' for one full hour and chatted the rest of the time. but the sky was beginning to darken, and mark stopped in his tracks.

"we should camp here, it's the only clearing for a while."

"are we close to the site of the murders?" jaebeom asked. they would have to be close so they could spend the whole second day filming, and then spend the third day walking home.

mark shrugged, "we're as close as we can get for tonight- who's carrying the tents?"

"i am." jinyoung answered, shrugging the collection of folded up tents off his back and throwing them to the dusty ground. there was a surprising absence of trees in the area they had stopped in, leaving a good amount of space to pitch the tents.

"right then." jaebeom said, "let's set up some tents." 


	3. NIGHT1

setting up the tents had been pretty easy, and jaebeom found himself thankful that mark had convinced him to buy pop up tents for the trip. night had descended rather quickly, and jaebeom didn't like the idea of having to fumble around with poles in the dark. especially in the woods. especially when he was feeling extra paranoid. he yawned from where he was sat inside the three person tent he was sharing with mark and youngjae. everyone else was outside, jinyoung and bambam trying to heat up some baked beans on a portable gas oven, jackson and yugyeom building a fire that they could sit around for a few hours before going to sleep (though it sounded like yugyeom had slacked off to go mess around with his cameras- jaebeom had heard jackson shouting at him).

he had no clue what mark and youngjae were doing, but they'd gone off into the woods somewhere. jaebeom had been inside the tent when they left, organising his plans for the filming of the documentary. the floor was littered with his notes, and jaebeom decided to get yugyeom to come help him with it later.

it was then that jaebeom heard someone unzipping the entrance to his tent and the plasticy shuffle of the small door flap being opened. jackson poked his head through with a sigh.

"jaebeom?" he asked, eyes darting around the small, orange interior of the tent, to see jaebeom's directing notes laid out like a carpet, "you wanna do me a favour?"

"sure. what is it?"

"can you find some dry wood for my fire? jinyoung's on my ass because i can't light it, and i think it's because all the wood around here is damp.

jaebeom groaned, not in the mood to venture into the dark woods alone. despite that, he stood up and said, "ok yeah, i'll help."

"you're awesome jaebeommm!" jackson replied, already leaving the tent and heading back to his fire.

gathering up the little strength he had left after the long hike, jaebeom followed jackson into the small clearing they were camping in. at once, he heard bambam's shrill voice and jaebeom looked over to see him and jinyoung wrestling with the gas cooker.

"JINYOUNG! TWIST THE KNOB FASTER!!!"

yugyeom chuckled, "you said knob." though no-one really heard him, too distracted by jinyoung's retaliation.

"I'M TWISTING IT AS HARD AS I CAN!!"

"THEN WHY ISN'T THE COOKER GETTING FIRE?????" bambam collpased onto the dirty, forest floor with a loud sigh. jaebeom gathered they had been trying (and failing) to light the stubborn gas cooker for quite some time, and it showed on their frustrated faces.

jinyoung groaned in annoyance, running a sweaty hand over his face, "why won't this bloody thing get hot?!"

jackson laughed loudly from where he had been building his fire right next to the gas cooker, "want me to take over babe?" he asked, wrapping an arm around jinyoung's shoulders and grinning.

"sheesh jacks, i got it, go back to your stupid fire."

jackson smirked and kissed him on the cheek, "you won't be calling it stupid when it's keeping us warm tonight."

"ok ok whatever, love you,"

jackson smiled at jinyoung's words, turning his attention back to the fire as jaebeom suddenly realised he was meant to be looking for dry wood. leaving jackson to his fire, jinyoung and bambam to their failed attempt at cooking beans and yugyeom to the various pieces of camera equipment spread out in front of him, jaebeom began skirting the edge of the clearing. there were no sticks in sight, leaving him no choice but to venture further into the woods.

once again, the warning they'd recieved from the crazy lady ran through his mind. _don't go into the woods._ whenever he thought about her deep, warning tone, he'd find shivers creeping up his spine. and it had crossed his mind a few times during the day, especially when his earring had ripped out. things felt weird, like everything was just sort of wrong. he wasn't sure how to explain it.

standing at the edge of the clearing, looking into the dark expanse of trees surrounding him, jaebeom felt like he was in danger.

he looked back to jackson, hunched over his lame excuse for a fire- the damp sticks he'd collected remained unlit, even when he brought the flint and steel right up to the bark. jaebeom knew he'd have to go into the woods, or they wouldn't have a fire. so, with a deep breath, he stepped underneath the trees. nothing changed, and he felt his confidence return a little.

a quick scan across the floor revealed more than a few dry looking sticks and he sighed with relief, he'd only be a few metres from everyone else. he knew it was stupid, but if the good sticks were even 5 more metres into the trees, he wouldn't have gone to go get them. the night made everything scarier, and he wasn't about to risk his life over some sticks (though realistically he knew he was completely safe). picking up his pace, jaebeom collected a handful of dry sticks and walked quickly back to jackson.

when he'd been looking into the trees, he'd had the uneasy feeling that he was being watched. it wasn't an uncommon feeling, but he didn't like it, and so he walked back to the clearing with a heightened sense of unease. 

jaebeom threw the sticks down on the ground in front of jackson's 'fire'.

"ah! thanks man!" jackson said, "you're a life saver."

"do you need a hand with the fire?" jaebeom asked, hoping with all his heart that jackson would say no so he could go back to his tent and wait for the beans to be cooked. they were meant to have rice too, but jackson had forgotten to pack it.

"i'm all good." jackson said, much to jaebeom's relief, "the dry sticks should help a lot."

as jaebeom walked back to his tent, he heard jinyoung shouting again.

"gyeom get over here and help us light this cooker! lazy ass!"

so the beans still weren't cooked then.

yugyeom looked up from the camcorder he was fiddling with, training the lens on jinyoung's ruddy face as he shook his head adamantly. the gentle breeze picked up strands of his hair as he replied, "not a chance, i'm done for the day."

"i don't care gyeom. you'd better get your ass here or you won't have anything to eat." jinyoung sounded properly annoyed, "and quit filming me."

"incorrect. i brought granola bars."

"kim yugyeom, come help your team."

yugyeom muttered something snarky under his breath and set his camera on the padded woodland floor, patting it gently before standing up and crouching next to bambam.

"pass me the cooker then." he said, with a roll of his eyes. bambam obliged, handing over the small piece of equipment.

"ok. bambam, hold it steady, and then i'll twist the bottom to light the gas- got it? this is so easy guys c'monnnn."

"yeah??? well we're not all camping experts are we?" bambam retorted, knowing full well that yugyeom went camping with his family every single year.

as yugyeom turned the gas cooker on with ease, it making a satisfying clicking sound as it suddenly started producing heat, the sound of twigs cracking underneath footsteps sounded out. jaebeom froze. was someone out there in woods?

no-one else seemed bothered, and jaebeom felt like such an idiot as he felt his heart beat just a little faster. there were animals everywhere in the forest, it was probably just a deer making it's way through the trees. he knew that, but the dread didn't shift from the bottom of his stomach.

the footsteps grew closer and closer and closer...

and jaebeom's heart beat faster and faster and faster.....

and the night got darker and darker and darker......

and then mark and youngjae walked into the clearing, mark grasping a huge water bottle filled with muddy looking water, youngjae holding a huge pile of mushrooms in his palms. jaebeom felt like smacking himself, groaning as the adrenaline rushed away.

"so here's the thing about the mushrooms." youngjae announced, sitting down with a thud next to yugyeom "i have no idea if they'll kill us or not."

yugyeom leaned over and quickly inspected one, turning it over in his fingers and quickly smelling it, "nah they're good if we cook them."

"look at bear grylls over there, fucking know-it-all." mark said snarkily, setting his bottle of water on the floor with a glare to yugyeom. trust mark to pick a fight with yugyeom the second he got back.

"whatever.. at least i'm actually useful for something, unlike you."

jackson slapped yugyeom on the back of the shoulder (in that joking way between friends), "gyeom! leave him alone. he's part of the team remember?"

"oh shut up jackson." mark shook his head, and jaebeom bristled with annoyance. mark was always acting above the rest of them, and it played right into jaebeom's frustration, "you forgot to pack the rice, you get no say."

"chill out mark." youngjae interjected, rubbing mark's shoulder gently, "he was just sticking up for you." 

"it's fine youngjae, i don't mind. anyway, we all like mushrooms and beans. we don't need the rice." jackson was always one to dismiss an argument as quick as possible.

laid back now the beans were cooking, jinyoung threw his head back in laughter, "you hate mushrooms you pyschopath, i fed you one and you literally vomited on my carpet."

"pfft. no way. they're like my faves."

"god i hate you." jinyoung said with a loving smile perched across his lips, amused by jackson's terrible lie. jaebeom, too, smiled a little, more than glad that the argument had ended pretty quickly. mark had shuffled off to the opposite end of the clearing with youngjae trailing behind him, they were whispering to each other, mark casting a glare to yugyeom every few seconds. it was clear youngjae was trying to calm mark down which seemed to be all he did. mark was always angry, and youngjae was the only one he wasn't brutal to. during the hike, jaebeom had hardly spoken to either of them, they just kept to themselves.

"you know what i hate?" yugyeom asked, drawing jaebeom's eyes away from mark and youngjae, "jinson being fucking cringe fests, stop giving each other googly eyes and build that god-damn fire! i'm freezing my tits off!"

yugyeom was right, the night had gotten shockingly cold and the fire remained unlit.

"you do it then." jackson said, throwing the flint and steel to the ground, hopeless, "you're the expert here."

"not doing it," yugyeom replied. he didn't even take his eyes off the camera he was cleaning.

"pleaseeeeeeeeeeee," bambam whined, "for me?"

"why the fuck would i light a fire for you bambam?"

"because we're best friends," bambam pouted, knowing yugyeom would cave regardless. the boy liked to put on a front, but at the end of the day, he'd do anything for bambam.

"UGH fine! hand me the flint and steel."

soon, the fire was roaring into life, bigger and bigger flames licking their way into the now pitch-black sky. eventually, all 7 members of the team found their way to the campchairs jackson had set up around the flames. even youngjae and mark reluctantly joined the circle, bringing smiles and laughter (which was weird to jaebeom, but welcomed). they chatted and sung a very off key version of toxic by brittany spears until the early hours of the morning.

2am came and went as bambam and yugyeom left to sleep in their tent, bambam eventually getting so creeped out by the dark that he dragged yugyeom into "the safety of the tent". not long after, jackson and jinyoung turned in too. suspicious noises arose from their tent, but the trio left awake just pretended they didn't hear it, sitting together awkwardly until they too decided to go to bed.

jaebeom fell asleep quickly, hopes high for the next day.

if only he knew what lay ahead.......  
  



End file.
